We may have given the impression lately that Australian politics was dominated by a clique of misogynists who could no more accept that their country was run by a woman than they could imagine heading for the beach without a cork hat and an Esky full of ice-cold tinnies. Enough of such clichés. Yes, the ousting of Julia Gillard did appear to be the culmination of a brutal campaign to “ditch the witch”, but this week the new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, begins a fresh chapter. His cabinet will contain a record six women, and of his total of 30 ministers, 11 will be female. The new mood has not yet won over the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, who described Mr Rudd’s ministry as “not even the B team – it’s the C team”. But as the target of Julia Gillard’s celebrated misogyny speech, now viewed 2.5 million times on YouTube, he may be worried that a tide is turning.